Yu Shishu spent the rest of the day outside the woodshed. He found a few pieces of wood that were just right, ordinary firewood, but enough for him.
Several small birds huddled together, tilting their heads and staring at him. Although they didn’t know what he was doing, it was quite captivating.
“His hands are so beautiful.” The long-tailed blue finch, which rarely left its cage, perched on the highest branch, chirping and chatting with the sandalwood bird hanging upside down on a branch below.
The sandalwood bird seemed to be a silent fellow, only flapping its wings in response—it had been next to the red-crowned finch’s cage when Yu Shishu chased away the thief last night, and although the man was somewhat disheveled, it genuinely thought he was a decent person.
Just as Yu Shishu was thinking of the Red-crowned Finch, a bird with red feathers on its head landed beside it. The Red-crowned Finch, already used to the strange behavior of the Sandalwood Bird, carried a small red fruit in its beak. Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a fruit at all, but a red gemstone, only so small that from a distance it looked like a fruit.
“What are you doing with the gemstone the Phoenix Lord gave you?” The Blue Finch hopped down from the top, and the Sandalwood Bird shook its feathers and climbed up. The three little birds huddled together, looking quite adorable from afar. Yu Shishu, who had
just looked up to rest and happened to see this scene, withdrew his gaze and refocused on his work. He was rushing to make a few small wooden carvings, which weren’t difficult, but since he intended to give them to the birds, they had to be small, which was quite hard on the eyes.
He took a deep breath and continued to concentrate on making the wooden carvings in his hands more refined with his knife. Meanwhile, on the other side, He Fangchuan was “observing” the “hook” he had set down the night before with his close friend.
Qingque’s original form was too large and inconvenient to move around, so he simply maintained his human form. He Fangchuan, to avoid attracting attention, transformed into a chubby little bird and burrowed into Qingque’s clothes, his claws gripping tightly, his small eyes intently watching the courtyard below—the two of them were currently perched atop the high wall of the government building, watching Ma San, now a prisoner, being led out, seemingly to see someone.
“How did you know your little resident’s enemy would come to see Ma San?” Qingque chuckled upon seeing that the visitor was Liang Chuan, the eldest young master of the Liang family in Junzhou City. He hadn’t taken it seriously when He Fangchuan mentioned it, but now he realized this chubby little bird was quite cunning.
The little phoenix poked its head out and looked down, chirping twice. Its melodious calls sounded like human speech to Qingque: “A wanted thief can hide in Junzhou City for so long without being noticed. Someone must be helping him. I’m just taking a gamble. Even if I lose, I won’t lose out.”
“When have you ever let yourself lose out?” Qingque laughed, looking down at Ma San, who was meekly talking to Liang Chuan. The latter looked very unhappy; if it weren’t for the soldiers nearby, he probably would have already punched Ma San in the face. “Useless
! You managed to get caught!” Liang Chuan seemed to have a good relationship with the officials, otherwise he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet Ma San, who was about to be escorted to the execution ground.
“Boss, boss, listen to me! Guess who I saw?” Ma San clung tightly to Liang Chuan’s clothes like a lifeline, his tone filled with a dying ferocity. “I saw your brother-in-law, the one you almost became family with!”
He Fangchuan’s little paws tightened—he’d taken the bait.
Last night, Ma San indeed saw Yu Shishu’s appearance clearly and knew who he was. He Fangchuan guessed that he would let Liang Chuan know about this.
“What bullshit brother-in-law… wait, you mean you saw Yu Shishu? Where is he?” Liang Chuan finally became interested. The jailer next to him was about to urge him when Liang Chuan stuffed a few pieces of silver into his hand, so the jailer had no choice but to shut his mouth.
Ma San said urgently, “Young Master Liang, as long as you save me and spare my life, I will tell you!”
“Don’t be so shameless! You still want to negotiate with me after all this?” Liang Chuan almost slapped him across the face. “Speak!”
“Hey, hey, I’ll talk, I’ll talk.” Ma San hurriedly said, “He’s hiding in the house at the very edge of Yanzi Bay! I saw him with my own eyes!”
Liang Chuan curled his lips. Just when Ma San thought he had a way out, he saw Liang Chuan nod to the jailer. Ma San had a bad feeling in his heart. The next moment, the jailer grabbed him by the hair and took him back to the prison, waiting to be executed at the entrance of the vegetable market a few days later.
Ma San finally reacted, cursing loudly in Liang Chuan’s direction. Soon, the sound faded, leaving Liang Chuan alone for a moment before hurriedly leaving.
Qingque sighed softly, “That man is truly heartless. That thief must have done him a lot of work.”
The little chubby bird didn’t speak, but flew out from his clothes and tugged at the back of his collar with its claws—Time to go!
Qingque said with difficulty, “Ancestor, little ancestor…don’t you know how strong you are?!”
He Fangchuan quickly released his claws, and Qingque breathed a sigh of relief, pointing at the little phoenix: “You almost strangled me to death.”
The little chubby bird landed on his shoulder, wagging its colorful tail—Hurry up! Time to go back to fight!
“Hey, I know, you’re quite interested in that guy, aren’t you? You’ve got your eye on him?” Qingque teased her best friend as always, but after a while, seeing no movement from the little phoenix, she glanced over and saw the little chubby bird staring straight ahead, clearly avoiding the topic.
Qingque: “You really like him?! He’s a man!”
“Chirp chirp.”
You’re a man too.
Qingque: “…”
How can that be the same!
“Alright.” Yu Shishu put away his tools, looking at the small wooden carvings on the windowsill of the woodshed, feeling a sense of satisfaction. “Looks like my skills haven’t deteriorated.”
Just then, he felt a weight on his shoulder. He knew without a doubt that birds had landed on his shoulder. Although Yu Shishu was prepared, he still couldn’t help but stiffen. He turned his head to look at his shoulder, and then became even stiffer.
One or two before was fine! But today there were four!!
The sandalwood bird looked at the small wooden carvings curiously, chirping twice at the red-crowned finches on his other shoulder—”You look just like me!”
The red-crowned finches, Azi and Xiaolvdou, had their eyes shining. They couldn’t help but fly over and land next to one of the small wooden carvings. After observing it for a while, they maintained the same standing, tilted-head posture as the wooden carvings, looking at Yu Shishu.
“Is this…being affectionate?” Yu Shishu asked, puzzled. He picked up the small wooden carving and placed it in front of the red-crowned sparrow, gesturing, “This is for you, can you understand?”
The small wooden carving was exquisitely crafted, yet only the size of a bird’s claw, perfect for a small bird to carry. The red-crowned sparrow stretched out its tiny claw and tentatively grasped it, and indeed, it could hold it and fly away.
Azi happily flew around the yard twice with the small wooden carving, identical to itself, even with red paint on its head. The birds that had been resting or playing were attracted by the little trinket on its claw, fluttering to Yu Shishu’s side and staring at him expectantly.
We want one too!
Yu Shishu: “…”
Good bro, help!
The red-crowned magpie flew back and landed on the windowsill. Looking at the wooden carvings and the birds, it distributed the remaining three or four small wooden carvings to the corresponding birds for Yu Shishu. The blue magpie didn’t expect to have one too. One claw grabbed Yu Shishu’s clothes on his shoulder, while the other claw carefully held the small wooden carving and looked at it over and over.
Yu Shishu dared not move. His mind raced, sometimes filled with images of the large, white goose that used to run behind him as a child, its claws outstretched, sometimes with images of plump, fluffy little birds.
He dared not move, absolutely dared not move!
The sandalwood bird hadn’t gotten the small wooden carving, and the blue sparrow reminded it, “You haven’t shown yourself at all. Hang around him more often, maybe next time you’ll get it.”
“You’re right, I’ll go now.”
Yu Shishu couldn’t understand what the birds were saying, only hearing a cacophony of chirping all around him. Then he saw a small creature, about the size of a palm, with a black head, short wings, and a long tail, scurry onto his leg, tilting its head to look at him.
“What…what does this mean?” Yu Shishu stammered. Suddenly, the sandalwood bird flew up, hovering in the air, and nuzzled his face with its tiny wings.
Yu Shishu, for some inexplicable reason, understood its meaning. Pointing to the birds playing with the small wooden carvings, he asked the sandalwood bird, “You want one too?”
The sandalwood bird excitedly circled in front of him, and Yu Shishu quickly patted his chest, promising, “I’ll make one for you tomorrow!”
Just as he finished speaking, he heard a few knocks on the door. It wasn’t a hand knocking; it sounded more like a wooden stick hitting the door, making a harsh thud.
Yu Shishu quickly scooped up the sandalwood bird and held it in his hands, then stood up and backed away—who could it be?
Certainly not He Fangchuan.
The birds were initially startled, but then, as if sensing something, they quieted down and obediently perched on Yu Shishu.
At this moment, the eagle leisurely flew onto the wall, but its body tilted uncontrollably. It was then that Yu Shishu clearly saw a bandage wrapped around one of its wings; it seemed injured.
He Fangchuan cared deeply about every bird there. Yu Shishu, not wanting to watch the eagle fall, rushed over, his body swarming with birds, and with the greatest courage he’d ever shown, grabbed the eagle’s two massive claws and pulled it down!
Qingque and He Fangchuan, who were beating Liang Chuan and his henchmen outside the courtyard wall, witnessed this dramatic scene of “Brother Eagle suddenly appearing and disappearing.”
Qingque stomped on one of the henchmen who was trying to get up, then turned to He Fangchuan in confusion: “What happened to it?”
He Fangchuan was equally bewildered: “How should I know?”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the courtyard wall, Yu Shishu and the eagle were staring at each other. The eagle, speechless, raised its claws to adjust its stance, then saw Yu Shishu’s eyes roll back and he faint.
Yu Shishu couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, “This bird is terrifying! It looks like it could kill me with one swipe!